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Planning Commission

Farmland Preservation

WELCOME!

The Butler County Office of Farmland Preservation was formed in March 2017 to assume the responsibilities of the Farmland Preservation Program.

WHAT IS THIS PROGRAM?

Butler County’s Farmland Preservation Program is a state-approved agricultural conservation easement purchase program. For landowners wishing to participate and if chosen, allows them to preserve their valuable agricultural lands for future generations. For 27 years the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has partnered with 57 participating counties to protect 5,000 farms (as of 2016) through this program. In Butler County, 50 farms have been preserved.

The Butler County Agricultural Land Preservation Board is appointed by the Board of Butler County Commissioners to carry out the program, accepting applications, ranking farms on a number of established criteria and making the choices each year on the highest-ranking farms to be chosen for the program based on available funding. Chosen farms are then submitted to the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Farmland Preservation for their board approval.

The future of agriculture in Butler County looks brighter and more diverse than ever as it continues to evolve. We are always interested in your thoughts and ideas so that moving forward we can continually work on ways in which to help you maintain your farm as an environmentally sound and economically viable entity. Please feel free to reach out to this office whenever you have ideas or questions about our programs.

If you are interested or know someone who may be interested in participating in this program, please contact this office at 724.284.5305 or click on the icons below to review program guidelines or print an application. Our application period runs January 1st-January 31st each year.

AGRICULTURAL LAND PRESERVATION BOARD:

John Allen

Larry Baumgartel

Robert Burr

William Duncan

James Faust

Albert Fritz

Ken Moniot

Al Roenigk

(one vacancy)

(Click Here) To view or download the Farmland Preservation Application